Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Everything bagel seed crackers

and they're addictive and full of important nutrients. they are also very low in calories and keep you full for a long time. I've estimate about 35 calories for a 1.5 x 1 inch cracker using online recipe calculators.

I've posted this in bits and pieces on Facebook. Here is my take on the ohsheglows seed crackers. My edition is MUCH more flavorful, which some people may not appreciate. But if you spread some cream cheese on these I swear they taste like an everything bagel without the bagel.

The trick to these crackers is in getting the mixture evenly spread out on an UNRIMMED baking sheet, and having an evenly cooking oven, which I do not have.

Some people eat these raw - so all seeds raw and made in a dehydrator. I don't do any of that. I like roasted and I don't believe in the raw theories, based on my research.The purchasing of the ingredients is annoying. You can leave out the ones you can't be bothered to find. Also most of the TJs ingredients are available at WF at a much greater price. Measurements are to taste. If you love sunflower seeds add more of those, etc.

Wait a few minutes until you see the chia seeds forming a gel-like circle around them and water is absorbed. If water doesn't absorb wait a minute or two then if it still doesn't absorb add more chia seeds. If it doesn't get all gelled up, add more water.
spread mixture evenly on the parchment paper. It should be about as thick as the ones you may have tasted of mine - maybe 1/4 inch? They don't rise or anything during baking so they thickness I made works. You can use a solid pie server or some other flat implement to get it even and you can patch thinned out places easily.
Sprinkle remaining garlic and a nice bit of salt on the top and press in with your hands.

Put in oven and set timer for 25 min. It will probably be about 30 min but you want them pretty solid but not crunchy for the first baking. If you have too much mixture for one pan, don't over stuff, but add a second pan.

Take out of oven and cut with a pizza cutter into your desired size and flip. If your oven cooks unevenly you can flip the outside parts in before cutting the individual crackers, like in the photo to the right. Put back in the oven for another 25-30 min depending on the oven. They should be totally crispy but not burned. I take mine out in batches bc my oven is so uneven.

They go really well with cream cheese, hummus or tuna salad. And they keep you full for hours!

CINNAMON, DATE AND WALNUT SWEET VERSION
I also make a sweet version. It's trickier and less "healthy" just in that it has a lot of sugar and calories, even if the sugar is in the form of dates, but still super healthy, relatively low-sugar and full of lots of nutrients and slow release energy - better than anything you'd buy for sure. Just replace the fresh onion and garlic with 8 dates and a tablespoon cinnamon in the water in the blender. Then also chop up at least 2 cups of fresh medjool dates from TJs (I really don't like the WF version) and a cup or two of chopped walnuts. Add the chopped dates/walnuts to the seed mixture (also skip the toasted onion and garlic bits). You need more add-ins than you think - at least 3 cups total, or else they are too sparse. The sweet version must be cooked carefully, and maybe lower, 315 or even 300 if you are willing to wait forever. They are harder to spread out and take a longer time to cook because of the extra moisture and fiber, and with the chopped dates and walnuts in them they are going to be thicker. It's also easy for the dates to burn, but they are the best breakfast or post-workout food around. A great thing to make when you're home all afternoon on a Sunday. I do sometimes make both versions at once and just keep track of what's in the oven. They last forever and go a long way - you don't need to eat a lot of them, so they are worth the effort every once in a while. Once you get to know your oven and the stage at which to flip and cut them it's really easy. I know I'm making this sound really hard and it's not - it just takes a little more attention to get the first batch right for your taste and oven and then you will be good to go next time. These I cut in bars, not crackers. They are delicious and I'll make a batch this weekend and post a photo.

PIZZA VERSION
I have not made this yet, but I'd like to try with oregano and some parmesan cheese - I'm not sure when to add the cheese as it doesn't need to cook for an hour like the other ingredients. When I get this right I'll post.

Next up vegan gluten-free cookie dough bites. There are many cookie dough bite recipes out there but most of them are bad.